May 8, 2017

May is Employee Heath and Fitness Month, give these exercises a go at your desk! New scientific research is revealing that sedentary office workers are doing long-term damage to their health by sitting all day. A desk job has been found to increase your heart disease risk by 64%, while shaving up to 7 quality years off your life, and it has been linked to chronic health problems like high blood pressure, depression, diabetes and obesity.

Sitting is slowly killing us desk jockeys. Today, the average adult spends 50 to 70% of their time sitting. When you factor in sitting at a desk job, driving a car, eating and watching TV, many of us sit up to 15 hours a day!

Fortunately, the research is also discovering what you can do to reduce the negative effects of sitting. Essentially, the recommendations are that you should get up and move around at least once per hour and a minimum 30 minute of moderate exercise each day.

Another thing you should do is deskercise! A short stretching routine at your desk based on the infographic below will force you to get up and reduce strain on your neck, arms and lower back.

This handy infographic covers 15 simple exercises you can do at your desk. Give some of them a try:

A big thank you goes to the folks at Desirable Body for creating this great infographic.

We recommend trying out some of these stretches right away (before you forget) and use them to create your own personal deskercise routine!